Ouchy Land

This week has been tough. Its gone by unusually fast though. I can't even remember like the past 3 or 4 days. Its so weird. I remember being in the hospital and everything else is a blur. I think its the drugs. It knocks me out pretty hard. But I'm getting better. I can walk ok now. It still hurts like crazy, but I can push through it pretty good. Thursday I have to go back to the hospital and do a follow up. I don't really know how thats gonna go. I have these HUGE scars! Oh man they ripped me open. They hurt like crazy. But the drugs help. It knocks me out though. Um...oh ya.

I'm getting transfered to Caldwell East. My new comp is Elder Peterson. I'm by a Sonic! Its amazing. they have this new drink called a...mango something. I dunnno. Its really hard to think right now. Typin is hard too. mmmmm.

Love you -

Elder Woods

p.s. The picture is of elder Gebhart visiting me in the hospital.

Operation - Appendicitis

OK, so here is the latest - Bradley went to his Zone Meeting on Friday and President Yardley was still very concerned about him. He took him to a Dr. in Caldwell, who is also a Bishop. He had all of Brad's tests sent down to Caldwell and really didn't like what he was seeing, so he called a surgeon he knew, scheduled the hospital and got Brad into surgery. We talked to a very drugged, ouchy son last night (but he was still laughing). I am so grateful for all your concern, prayers and support. I told Brad that he had better be taking pictures for the Blog!!! I talked to his ZL's today and they stayed at the hospital all night with him and said he slept well and was up and walking, pushing his IV (picture please!!!). I am so grateful for valient men who listen to the spirit and know what to do. He is surrounded by the "Angels" that President Reeder promised him if he obeyed the rules. I am looking forward to Brad's take on this on Tuesday. (Emily and I were in Disneyland the last two days following the rule, "No news, is good news". But we got good news yesterday and had much more fun then Brad!!)

Brad Update

I got a call from President Yardley this afternoon. He informed me that the pain returned and Bradley went back to the hospital. They were going to do an x-ray and if they could confirm the appendicitis they would take him into surgery. I haven't heard back, so I don't know his status. President Yardley will keep me posted. Thank you for all your prayers and support. (I have really wanted to jump on a SWA plane and check out the situation, but he is in great hands!!)

8:00 pm. President Yardley called, no surgery. They sent him home with antibiotics. The scan didn't seem to show appendicitis, they they are going to watch what happens in the next few days and if he doesn't improve, President Yardley well take him to Boise for further tests. Thanks again for your prayers.

Hi Mom, Don't Freak Out or There's Really Far Away, And Then There's John Day

Hello everyone!

So this week=CRAZY! Oh man. Its been pretty jam packed with crazy.

Wednesday, we get a phone call from Elgin saying, "hey a young woman up here wants to get baptized and has been taught all the lessons" (sound familier? Look at the blog when I was in Oakley and we baptized a girl named Tyree Carson). So we went up and met her. She's pretty excited.

Thursday was district meeting. It was my 1st time leading the meeting so I was pretty nervous, but it went really well. After that is when the crazy started. Anderson went back with the other Elders and I stayed with the Elders in Baker. I had to go with them all the way to John Day to do a baptisimal interview. Oh man. John Day. This is a total bustling metropolis. haha. On the cool side, it IS the western-most part of the mission and Grouse Creek IS the eastern most part of the mission. So it' pretty cool cause now I've been on both. Time for North and South. haha. (I actually think McCall is north). I had a lot of fun with elder Kaler and Doan on the way there. It's a long trip, but very beautiful. The interview was great. The young lady was very prepared and ready for baptism. (she was baptized Sat)

Friday we drove back to Baker and the Zone Leaders picked me up and took me back to La Grande so they could interview someone for us. KAREN! Hooray! The interview also went good and she too was baptized on Saturday. a Great baptism. Elder Anderson gave a talk on baptism and I spoke on the Holy Ghost. Her friend David Drake baptized her. I don't know if I've seen anyone as nervous as he was. haha. (He's a recent convert)

On Sunday, we drove up to Elgin and set a date (JUL 11) with the girl getting baptized and drove back down to La Grande for Karin's confirmation (which Elder Anderson performed).

Yesterday was top crazy. We had a pretty full day. A lot of service, some great lessons, etc. Anyhoo, at 6:00, my stomach started hurting REALLY bad. But I was like, "eh, this is nothing new". So we went to dinner and I thought it would get better. WRONG! Way worse. In fact after dinner I had to have Elder Anderson drive me to the emergency room (I hate that term. It makes everything sound so much worse. There should be like a mediocre pain room. Emergency room sounds like your head is ripped off and your carrying it in. That's an emergency! haha) and I got all checked in.They think it might be appendicitis, but maybe not. I'm ok now. But if it starts hurting again I gotta run back. I had to get blood drawn.(Brad HATES needles, when he was little he would hide under a chair to get away from the shots. I think he is too big to do it now, or he would have). I went to a doctor and all he did was take blood from me. Don't go see Dr. Acula! haha. But all was good. Prayer works and miricles happen. even if you dont know how to spell miricle. haha.

Love ya all!

-Elder Woods

A big thank you to President Yardley. He called Brad this morning and told him to give us a 5 minute call to let us know what was going on. When the phone rang with a long distance # and "LDS Mission" on the caller ID, I knew it couldn't be good. Brad's first words were, "Hi Mom, don't freak out." I did of course. He was more worried about my reaction then how he was feeling. I am so grateful for wonderful Mission Presidents and the power of Priesthood blessings. When he went to Urgent Care (The Holy Rosary Clinic) last time I only found out because it was on his debit card. I am grateful for the heads-up and we look forward to talking to Brad again at Christmas.

Howdy from Oregon

Big Fish
Awesome Darrin

Oregon Cowboy

Hello everyone!

How is yall? I hope well. This week has been pretty unpredictable. Which is good. It keeps ya on your toes.

Wednesday, we went to go meet with Darren and when we got there, his neighbor was there. and Darren is like, "ya, I invited me neighbor over to come hear the good word!" haha, oh man. He's so awesome. So we picked up a new investigator because of our recent convert. That is neat!

Thursday after district meeting in Baker, we drove out to Elgin and did some service. We also met with a man who's wife is going through Chemo. The doctors found a cancer spot on an x-ray, later that day she had a Priesthood blessing, they went in to do a second x-ray and the spot was...[lame pun warning] spotless! haha. But it was really cool to hear about that.

Friday, ok, Friday...we went to a family to go do some service. They told us on the phone that it was cleaning up the lawn. We thought, "how bad can that be? plus there will be four of us". So we get over there and he gives us 4 weed eaters, 2 lawn mowers, battle ax, helmet, tommy gun, ok, not the last things, but we could have used them. It was SERIOUSLY like walking into the amazon jungle! oh man! I was cutting weeds and I got attacked by Aborigines, lions, tree huggers, it was crazy! It ended up taking 4 HOURS!! After that, we went and painted someone's office for them. This was a little more fun. Other then the fact that I was SUPER tired. For dinner we had an Elders Quorum BBQ and Darren and his neighbor came.

Way cool.The rest of the week I was with Elder Murphy. He was getting transferred Monday morning so he was with me since we're closer to the transfer spot.

Sunday we met with Karen and began to set up her baptism for this SAT!!! ya!!! Her interview is this Fri. She's so awesome.

Well, I gotta run. This up coming week will be one of the craziest of my mission. So get excited!

Love ya all!

-Elder Woods

Picture-less Again.

Here are a few pics from

Brad's SD Card

?????
Only in Idaho

Emily at Disney World 2009

Bradley Disney World Idaho 2009

Hey!

1st off, I don't have the cord so I can't send pics this week, but I am sending them home so hopefully they will be on later this week(?). They are pretty neat.

Wednesday, we tried to meet with everyone are working with. We saw alot of them and had some great lessons. But it proved to be a VERY busy day. Darrin had his interview that day and Elder Sanders (the person interviewing him) was super impressed with Darrin (just as we were haha). Sanders and his comp ended up staying with us that night because they had to come up from Baker. Which is where we went the very next morning for district meeting. It was also one of our zone leaders (Elder Banta)'s birthday, so we got and filled it with candy and broke it open. that, we went out to a mexican food restaraunt and the waiters and people sang"Happy Birthday" to Elder Banchita. haha. I also found a really cool skate shop in Baker, but that's not important. haha.

After driving all the way back to La Grande, we kept driving to Elgin and worked there for the day. We had dinner with the Limbaugh's (not Rush, but are a relative! haha) and had some great lessons up there. Work up there is slow, but picking up.

Friday we did a ton of service. We helped people move and fix a house, it was pretty fun.

Saturday was the big day. Saturday was Darrin Kelly's baptism. He was the happiest person in the world. It was amazing. He asked me to baptize him which was a complete honor. After that, we made progress records and met with a really cool family named the Buckley's. Super nice.

Sunday, Elder Anderson confired the Holy Ghost upon him and I confered the Priesthood to him. It was awesome.

Yesterday was pretty crazy. We went with one of our investigators to his cabin up north (still in our area don't worry) and help him fix it up. In exchange he taught me to fish. I actually caught one! It could probably feed a family of 4!...ants. haha. But it was pretty cool.

Today, we are tye-dyeing shirts. haha. Thats about all we have planned.

Well, hope all is good for you!

I love you all!

-Elder Woods

Idaho Pet Tricks

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1SjCqSmobc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m37yWogC3Bk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTiY0-lRZhw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4f2GjVKnY_w

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDPqwUm36hw

Pictures Finally!!!

Hey! So I figured out how to put on pics!

"Jesus Gangstas".(from left to right) Forsyth, Beard, Woods, and Murphy. This was after the "spring fling" in Middleton last week.

Double Rainbow

So we were driving home from church and totally saw this house fully engulfed in flame. Turns out it was a fire fighter training, but still, really really cool.

Morgan Lake. We had a lesson there with an investigator. Its actually only 10 min from our house! Pretty awesome.

This pic is for Emily. Tell her its a Blue Blooth Banana. "Theres always money in the bananastand". haha.

A Man named Derrin

Hello!

How is everyone doing? Since I can't read or hear your responses, I'll assume everyone said "totally awesome!" at the same time. haha.

This week has been really good...and not so good. Not so good only because I caught some flu bug. Not fun. But now that parts over. It was REALLY good because of a man named Derrin. We've met with him only a few times, but each time is one of the most spiritual experiences ever. The 1st time we taught him he said, "I know what your saying is true because I can feel it. I can feel a warmness in my chest and an overall good feeling". The next time we taught him he said, "I prayed and read the scriptures SO much and know for a fact that they are true (see Moroni 10:4). I have NEVER felt this happy before in my life!" The next time we taught him I just straight up asked him, "do you wanna get baptized?" He responded with, "yes. I know its true and I need to be". We were about to ask him to pray about a date for it to happen when he said, "I feel like next Saturday is when I need to be baptized". So this Sunday is his baptism. I've never seen anyone more excited for baptism. He came to church and I was like, "there are three classes each an hour long so, but they're all awesome" (fearing that he would think 3 hours is WAY too long) but he said, "oh man, its only 3 hours?" He's awesome. He asked me to baptism him and elder Anderson to give him the Holy Ghost. It was amazing.

This week we did a ton of service and went up to Elgin and Enterprise.We went to Enterprise because we're trying to get work moving up there because President is thinking about putting a set of missionaries up in Enterprise. That would be cool. I'll miss that drive though. haha.Its beautiful.

Saturday we went to the wedding of Trish and Weston Somonis. Trish is about to get baptized by the other La Grande missionaries and Wes is the guy I got to jam with on P-day (member).

Well, that about sums up this week, Happy June everyone! Hope everything is "totally awesome!" haha.

-Elder Woods

No pictures again so here are a couple of video clips he sent home.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2y5-q__Vus

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQOFVEvLGvk